The LAS and speed humps

For my sins, I realised fairly quickly that I wasn't cut out for a 9 to 5,
Monday to Friday job so after being a salesman, living in Germany for a while,
motorcycle couriering and selling 'ladycare' (tampons and toilet rolls) for
which I was sacked because, frankly, I couldn't whip up the evangelistic
fervour required for these products, nor the necessary indignation when a
cold-called client said no, I applied for various fire brigades and ambulance
services.

The London Ambulance Service (LAS) said yes first. This was not due to my
outstanding medical talent, but because they were desperate, not too
choosy and doing intakes of about 400 trainees a year when I applied.

Anyway I ended up doing OK at the job, became a Paramedic, then a Training
Supervisor, then a Training Officer and driving instructor. Then they offered
an Honours Degree in Paramedic Science course so I applied for it...and spent 5
years (part time) studying. The culmination of the Honours part involved
undertaking some undergraduate research and, having driven and treated patients
while negotiating those blasted speed humps (yes, I'm biased!), I investigated
this part of emergency prehospital care. The research has been peer reviewed,
published, and presented at various national and international seminars - you
can read it and decide for yourself here.

Needless to say I get hate mail and love mail (is that the opposite?!) -
there's even some idiot out there who has a website dedicated to me (ooh,
praise indeed!) and specifically claiming my research is

"...little more than a bit of politically motivated and
rather clever mischief by someone who knew full well how his
‘research’ would be used by the right-wing press and anti-speed
control groups"

and that

"...It was initiated by a fan of Lotus sports car[s] (and
presumably the speed they are capable of), [and] was spun by the car-centric
media and ultimately related not to the impact of speed humps per say,
[sic - I think s/he means per se] but the impact of all delays on
response times, including those caused by congestion. What's more even the
claim regarding the supposed reduced mortality rate for cardiac patients with a
one minute decrease in response times is itself highly dubious." [Care
to read the Grampian Region Early Anistreplase Trial (GREAT), or the Myocardial
Infarction Triage and Intervention (MITI) Trial research?]